Greek Canadian comedian Anesti Danelis is set to bring his musical comedy talents to Australia, presenting a show centred around the question ‘Can AI replace human art?’
The Toronto-based comedian, musician and writer will be performing his show ‘Artificially Intelligent’ at the Melbourne Comedy Festival (26 March – 5 April) and the Sydney Comedy Festival (16-19 April), a show that started off initially as a mere experiment.
“I wasn’t sure what to do for my next show, so I asked ChatGPT to write a comedy show about my life,” Danelis told Neos Kosmos.
“The result? Some of the most hilariously terrible material I’ve ever read.”
He stated the stand-up musical comedy show asks whether AI can replace human art.
“After feeding the AI details about my identity, immigrant family life, and millennial struggles, the audience gets to see just how absurdly wrong its attempts are.”
The comedian expressed enthusiasm in seeing how Australians respond to the show, particularly keen to see how much the Greek community relates to the family dynamics he explores.
Danelis’ family’s migration story is not dissimilar to those who came to Australia, with his grandfather Nikolaos Tsiklas (a professional touring violinist in Greece) and grandmother moving from Prokopi, Evia to Canada.
He noted they worked factory jobs until they saved up enough money to bring over his mother and aunt as well, while for him personally, he grew up immersed in both Canadian and Greek culture.
“Navigating between the two was hilarious. North American culture is very individualistic, while European/Greek culture is very collectivist,” he said.
“This cultural clash has definitely shaped my comedy. Now, I often bring my Greek identity into my stand-up and comedy videos.”
Danelis remarked that his comedy career came by accident, initiated at first by a simple improv class he attended in 2011.
“I was studying architecture then, but one improv class led to another, and another, and before I knew it, I was hooked,” he said.
“In 2014, I quit my architecture job and dove into comedy and acting full time. At first, my only motivation was that it was fun, but over time, it became something bigger.”
Beyond his material, his comedy has been heavily influenced by his upbringing with the music component a direct link to his grandfather.
“Growing up my grandfather taught me the violin by ear.”
“Music was already a big part of my life. Most weekends, the family get togethers turned into mini concerts with my grandpa on the violin, my cousin on the bouzouki, and people dancing around the living room. It was like a DIY paniyiri.”
Once he got into comedy, he taught himself the guitar and piano to add to his skills and make it easier to perform funny songs.
“The combination of music and comedy happened pretty naturally. I realised that songs could sometimes express a joke or idea in a way that stand-up alone couldn’t.”
Outside of his shows, Danelis has cultivated a strong online presence through his musical comedy videos with over 400,000 subscribers on YouTube and 250,000 followers on Instagram.
He remarked that he still finds it surreal that people around the world and from all types of backgrounds can relate to his material.
“One of the biggest surprises in my comedy career has been how strongly people connect with very specific personal stories,” Danelis said.
“The details might be Greek, but the experience of family, culture, and the absurdities of life is universal.”
